Our first week has come to and end.  We drove Dean and Darrell to the Port Au Prince airport this morning.  The 17 mile drive took only 1 hour and 40 minutes.  We did hear that they had safely arrived in Florida.

David and I were able to go to the grocery store with our friend Ryan Price (he was kind enough to drive the two D's to the airport).  In the middle of PAP is a huge supermarket, as nice as going to Byerly's and with as much variety as Cub.  There was also a bakery that served delicious pastries and espresso.  Such a contrast to the incredible poverty that they are in the middle of.  It is like a picture of the riches we have in Christ vs the poverty we have without Him.  Only the select can come in.

As we begin our second week here we will be meeting with a second optometrist  who has been involved with the eye clinic for many years.  He arrived today.  We will also be meeting a 3rd time with a proposed contractor.  This week will also consist of more clinical work as we work both in the eye clinic and doing some screening of school children.

Please pray for wise decisions regarding building the clinic, for some repair work to get done on the optometry house, for David and I to be able to show Gods love and mercy.

Bondye beni ou.

Lori

How Firm a Foundation

How Firm a Foundation is one of the hymns we chose to sing for group worship last night.  We have spent this week learning more about the need for a firm, adequate foundation as we have been digging around a totally inadequate foundation and modifying plans because what was put in was in adequate.  We have seen many answers to prayer through this whole process and are ready to pour the initial footings today!  Praise God!

We have had 3 very hard working Haitians to work with, they have accomplished a lot, we have enjoyed working with them.  We had the excavator for an extra day which was a huge blessing as we had much rock to move and clay to dig through.

Please pray for 1. Salvation for Sara (italian) and Meer (bangladesh) both are graduste students working here, also that we would be able to continue to cultivate those relationships  2. That we would be able to show love and respect for the men we are working with  3. For wisdom as we make decesions about the eye clinic moving forward  4. Praise for an on the ground project coordinator and also 2 bids from contractors

Thank you for your continued prayers - we are feeling Gods love and His control over what we are doing.

During our group devotions las night we discussed the events of Ezra chapter 1-5 - the Israelites were returning to Jerusalem from exile.  Ezra talks specifically about the rebuilding of the temple, how they were met by opposition through questions, taunts, undercover enemies and even a royal decree.  Because those involved were relying on God, obeying and trusting God, God was with them and they were successful.

This is very much like how our first day on the building site went.  The site which was supposed to be clean and ready for interior footings (below ground support) was full of trash and weeds, the exterior foundation was completely not up to specifications.  We needed to start over.  There were many questions about how to proceed next. 

At the same time we have seen numerous answers to prayer.  We spoke with a haitian who is a builder and we have worked with many times.  He is able and more than willing to help us get supplies and laborers.  Tingue is his name.  He also has supplied us with a small backhoe to dig up a lot of rock (not something we wanted to do by hand).  There is an American here in Haiti who is a respected builder, he has agreed to work for us.  His name is Dale, he comes highly recommended and he was willing to come out this morning to help with the decisions about how best to proceed  - he and Dean have been invaluable thus far.  There is also a US crew coming in on Saturday, they will have some construction people with them so we will be able to get more work done next week.

Please pray that we will continue to have patience and perseverance through these hurdles, that we would show Gods love to the Hatians we are working with and that we will be in tune with Gods leading.

Bondye beni ou!

Lori

I have a new blog with a slightly new name as google wouldn't let me into the previous blog.

As I said, we arrived safely with no excitement which is just fine with me.  There are a number of familiar faces here - residents at the mission and also a team from Pennsylvania, many of whom were here last year when David and I were here. 

I will hopefully be able to get myself logged on here and update frequently.